Montpellier R1 previews and predictions: Paire vs. Zverev, Rublev vs. Garcia-Lopez

The 250-point event in Montpellier will get underway on Monday, when Benoit Paire hopes to treat the home French crowd to a victory over Mischa Zverev. Sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev is also kicking off his campaign against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Benoit Paire vs. Mischa Zverev

Paire and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level when they clash in round one of the Open Sud de France on Monday night. They faced each other last summer at the U.S. Open, where Zverev survived a wild 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-5 affair on his way to the last 16. Not unlike in the aftermath of his 2017 Australian Open quarterfinal run, the 53rd-ranked German failed to build on Grand Slam success. He slumped down the stretch last fall and has begun the 2018 campaign plagued by various physical problems. Zverev is 1-3 this season and coming off a first-round Australian Open retirement against eventual semifinalist Hyeon Chung.

Paire’s Aussie Open disappointment–an opening loss to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez–came as more of a surprise. The 45th-ranked Frenchman went into Melbourne on the heels of back-to-back semifinal showings in Pune and Sydney. Based on current form, health, and home-court advantage, Paire has every reason to take care of business in this one.

Pick: Paire in 2

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(6) Andrey Rublev vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Ranked 35th in the world, Rublev just barely snagged a seed for the Australian Open. It did not help his draw much, but he managed to outlast David Ferrer in five sets and beat Marcos Baghdatis before falling to third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov. It has been a stellar start to 2018 for the 20-year-old Russian, who also finished runner-up to Gael Monfils in Doha.

Up first for Rublev in Montpellier is Garcia-Lopez, whom he has never faced. The 34-year-old Spaniard has been struggling of late, but he has found away to maintain a decent ranking of No. 69. Garcia-Lopez started the season on the Challenger circuit and reached the quarterfinals in Canberra, where he lost to eventual champion Andreas Seppi. He followed up his Melbourne win over Paire with a four-set setback against Tomas Berdych even though the Czech was battling obvious physical problems in that contest. A more confident Rublev will likely have too much game for the veteran on Monday.

Pick: Rublev in 2

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